A challenging time for charities, but technology and collaboration offer new opportunities

The changing regulatory framework over the past two years has been a challenge for the charity sector, but new technology and diversification of income streams offer fresh opportunities for growth and innovation, says Director Michaela Johns.

2017 was a particularly challenging year for the not-for-profit sector as the ongoing impact of austerity and budget cuts, coupled with ever-increasing demands for services, started to bite. However, many charities, yet again, have managed to raise their game and a key theme for 2018 has been around finding solutions through collaboration and embracing new technology.

Michaela, who works with charities across the region, said: “With budgets so limited there’s only so much charities can do with their own funding, but there are huge opportunities if they can collaborate with each other, or going one step further, work with the corporate sector.

“In terms of technology, the biggest growth market, in terms of age demographics for donations, are those in the 30 to 50 age range and they now want to transact in a different way from the more traditional donors.

“They want to donate online contactlessly and that will mean more investment needed in systems to be able to take those donations in a seamless way, making it an easy experience for the donors.

“This technology will make a huge difference to on-street collections going forward.

“It’s thought that the average donation given by contactless card will be significantly higher than average cash donations, so this is a real positive for the sector moving forward.”

For advice about how your charity can benefit from technology and income diversification, contact Michaela Johns on 023 8046 1256.